CHINA, NATIONAL, BEIJING, SOCIETY, Commentary: Classism in Beijing?
By Yu Feng
This is supposed to be an enlightened age, but you wouldn't think so if you could hear what the average citizens of Beijing city think of the people who come from other provinces. We all know that everybody should be treated equally and with friendliness, however, in Beijing, the Capital of China, and a civilized metropolis of the world, most people from other cities are not treated justly. They contributed a lot to the development of Beijing, yet they are a group of people who are always being neglected. If you look around purposefully, you will find they are some of the loveliest and most respectable people to be found anywhere.
Mr. Ren and his wife Mrs. Zhang are gatekeepers of a playground in Beijing Foreign Studies University. When I went to the playground and wanted to have a chat with them, they were sweeping up the fallen leaves. "We spend five or six hours cleaning the fallen leaves everyday, it gets harder when it snows," Mr. Ren said.
Mr. Ren and Mrs. Zhang came to Beijing from Shangqiu city, Henan Province, two years ago. Before that, Mr. Ren was a carpenter in his hometown and Mrs. Zhang worked in a milk factory in Ningbo city. To find a better life, the couple got their present job through the introduction of one of their friends.
Everyday they get up at 5:00 o'clock in the morning, eat breakfast hastily, open the gates and begin cleaning the playground. They must finish cleaning before PE classes begin in the early afternoon. During the PE classes, they are responsible for supplying various PE apparatus to students and to help them look after their clothes and bags. They can't leave the playground until 10:00 at night. Besides a ten days' Spring Festival Holiday, they have no weekends and holidays off the rest of the year.
"It seems like an easy job, but actually it is not," Mr. Ren explained. "Some people show their contempt when we ask to see their identity cards at the entrance. Facing these misunderstandings, we will forget those unhappy things soon," Mr. Ren added with a smile. "We believe that if we treat them kindly, they will cooperate with us."
Mr. Ren and Mrs. Zhang have two children, a son and a daughter; because the couple can't look after them, both children attend a boarding school in their hometown. When I asked about their future plans, Mrs. Zhang said that she hopes they can earn enough money here to afford for both children to study in a university in Beijing.
* * *
Mr. Yuan is a seller at a fruit stall; the fresh fruit and his good service earn him many repeat consumers. Eight years ago, he came to Beijing and sold fruit from a tricycle, and then he got a job working for the owner of a fruit stall. He has three children; because his children can't enter a primary school in Beijing and they can't afford the high-standard life, Mr. Yuan and his wife also have to leave their children in their hometown.
"Life is full of hardship, I have to stay outside day after day, and the housing condition is bad. However, I have to sustain my whole family," Mr. Yuan said. When it is not busy, Mr. Yuan likes to read novels next to the fruit stall. He said his biggest wish is to have his own fruit store one day.
According to statistics, there are about 3.595 million people from other provinces now living in Beijing. Some of them work in companies as white-collar employees, or mechanics; most of them work in the service industry, such as a detail seller, baby-sitter, milkman, postman and cleaner. They are an inseparable part of the city. It is reported that when people from other provinces return home for unity during the Spring Festival Holiday, two-thirds of the citizens of Beijing city have no fresh milk to drink and no newspaper to read.
However, most of the people from other provinces don't lead an easy life in Beijing. The local people often trick them; their children have no equal rights to go to school; they are not even allowed to enter certain public places. Yet they truly contribute themselves to society; they are worth our attention and respect.
Recently, in the newly revised "Norms of Behavior for Primary and Middle Students of Beijing City," some new contents were added, including the admonition not to despise people from other provinces; not to insult them; not to laugh at their pronunciation and appearance; and not to play tricks on them. This is a good beginning. It will be even more sensible when these basic norms are carried to a larger extent.
An energetic city firstly should be a harmonious city; everyone should respect each other like family members. Only in this way can our society continue developing in a promising direction.
This is supposed to be an enlightened age, but you wouldn't think so if you could hear what the average citizens of Beijing city think of the people who come from other provinces. We all know that everybody should be treated equally and with friendliness, however, in Beijing, the Capital of China, and a civilized metropolis of the world, most people from other cities are not treated justly. They contributed a lot to the development of Beijing, yet they are a group of people who are always being neglected. If you look around purposefully, you will find they are some of the loveliest and most respectable people to be found anywhere.
Mr. Ren and his wife Mrs. Zhang are gatekeepers of a playground in Beijing Foreign Studies University. When I went to the playground and wanted to have a chat with them, they were sweeping up the fallen leaves. "We spend five or six hours cleaning the fallen leaves everyday, it gets harder when it snows," Mr. Ren said.
Mr. Ren and Mrs. Zhang came to Beijing from Shangqiu city, Henan Province, two years ago. Before that, Mr. Ren was a carpenter in his hometown and Mrs. Zhang worked in a milk factory in Ningbo city. To find a better life, the couple got their present job through the introduction of one of their friends.
Everyday they get up at 5:00 o'clock in the morning, eat breakfast hastily, open the gates and begin cleaning the playground. They must finish cleaning before PE classes begin in the early afternoon. During the PE classes, they are responsible for supplying various PE apparatus to students and to help them look after their clothes and bags. They can't leave the playground until 10:00 at night. Besides a ten days' Spring Festival Holiday, they have no weekends and holidays off the rest of the year.
"It seems like an easy job, but actually it is not," Mr. Ren explained. "Some people show their contempt when we ask to see their identity cards at the entrance. Facing these misunderstandings, we will forget those unhappy things soon," Mr. Ren added with a smile. "We believe that if we treat them kindly, they will cooperate with us."
Mr. Ren and Mrs. Zhang have two children, a son and a daughter; because the couple can't look after them, both children attend a boarding school in their hometown. When I asked about their future plans, Mrs. Zhang said that she hopes they can earn enough money here to afford for both children to study in a university in Beijing.
Mr. Yuan is a seller at a fruit stall; the fresh fruit and his good service earn him many repeat consumers. Eight years ago, he came to Beijing and sold fruit from a tricycle, and then he got a job working for the owner of a fruit stall. He has three children; because his children can't enter a primary school in Beijing and they can't afford the high-standard life, Mr. Yuan and his wife also have to leave their children in their hometown.
"Life is full of hardship, I have to stay outside day after day, and the housing condition is bad. However, I have to sustain my whole family," Mr. Yuan said. When it is not busy, Mr. Yuan likes to read novels next to the fruit stall. He said his biggest wish is to have his own fruit store one day.
According to statistics, there are about 3.595 million people from other provinces now living in Beijing. Some of them work in companies as white-collar employees, or mechanics; most of them work in the service industry, such as a detail seller, baby-sitter, milkman, postman and cleaner. They are an inseparable part of the city. It is reported that when people from other provinces return home for unity during the Spring Festival Holiday, two-thirds of the citizens of Beijing city have no fresh milk to drink and no newspaper to read.
However, most of the people from other provinces don't lead an easy life in Beijing. The local people often trick them; their children have no equal rights to go to school; they are not even allowed to enter certain public places. Yet they truly contribute themselves to society; they are worth our attention and respect.
Recently, in the newly revised "Norms of Behavior for Primary and Middle Students of Beijing City," some new contents were added, including the admonition not to despise people from other provinces; not to insult them; not to laugh at their pronunciation and appearance; and not to play tricks on them. This is a good beginning. It will be even more sensible when these basic norms are carried to a larger extent.
An energetic city firstly should be a harmonious city; everyone should respect each other like family members. Only in this way can our society continue developing in a promising direction.
1 Comments:
At 8:01 PM , Anonymous said...
yeah, why do beijing people look down upon eveyone else? why do beijingers hate shanghai people so much? most of these beijingers probably had ancestors who came from other places as well. its very narrow minded.
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